The hammer is a carpenter's most essential tool. Despite its importance in carpentry, a carpenter's hammer is highly standardized. A typical carpenter's hammer has a metal head having a flattened striking end, and opposite the striking end, a forked claw for removing bent or undesirable nails. Extending from a midpoint between the flattened end and the claw is an elongate handle having an overall length of approximately fifteen inches and made of a lighter material, such as wood, plastic, or aluminum. Surrounding the distal end of the handle is a gripping material made of rubber or the like, such that a carpenter, or other user, may easily grip the handle and swing its weight around an arc causing the flattened end of the head to impact on a target, such as the head of a nail.
In the course of a carpenter's work, it may occur that a hammer is needed to be used in a difficult to reach orientation, and under such circumstances, it might be desirable that the handle of the hammer be somewhat longer or somewhat shorter than the customary length. Presently, a carpenter faced with such a difficult construction work cannot employ an existing tool but must make due with an existing hammer, or remove the handle from the head of an existing hammer and construct a substitute handle having the desired length. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a hammer having an adjustable length handle.